Did God use "stuff" in creation? How should I read Heb. 11:3? My response
David, In one of your classes I thought I understand you to say that God created the heavens and the earth by putting order to chaos. The Webster dictionary defines chaos as "a confused mass or mixture", which to me means there was something of substance. Therefore, God put order to something that was already in existence. However, this morning I read: Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. This scripture states God did not create the universe out of what was visible (matter/chaos) . Fully understanding that our human brains do not comprehend nor understand many of the capabilities of God and won't until we meet Him, how do you reconcile this? Friend Hi, Great question! My own view is that ancient people in general, which would include the Hebrews, considered the act of creating quite differently than we do. John Walton does an...